Pilfer-proof container and cap therefor



Jan. 23, 1962 A. SAFIANOFF 3,018,012

PILFER-PROOF CONTAINER AND CAP THEREFOR Filed June 6, 1958 Filed June 6, 1958, Set. No. 740,270 1 Claim. (Cl. 215-4 This invention relates to a pilfer-proof screw cap for a bottle or other container and pertains more specifically to such a cap made of plastic composition and having unique properties.

In the manufacture and sale of goods dispensed in screw-cap containers, it has been customary to provide a frangible or rupturable element which must be broken in order to remove the cap and use the contents, thus providing means by which the customer, i.e., the ultimate consumer, may be assured that the container has never been opened and that the original contents have not been substituted or diluted. However, one difficulty with such constructions has been the sharp edges left after breaking or rupturing of the seal and the consequent risk that the fingers of the user will be cut during removal of the cap, at least during its first removal. In some cases, after removal of the cap a ring of sharpedged material remains loosely encircling the neck of the container below the screw-threaded portion and constitutes not only a permanent hazard to the fingers of anyone using the container, but in addition is unsightly, tends to accumulate dirt and other foreign material, and interferes with subsequent mounting of a dispenser or applicator upon the container.

One object of the present invention is to provide a pilfer-proof cap having a portion which must be permanently distorted or bent in order to remove the cap, but which remains integrally and permanently attached to the cap and which is free from sharp edges and the come quent risk of cut fingers and which permits subsequent mounting of a dispenser or applicator upon the container after removal of the cap.

Another object is to provide a plastic-composition pilfer-proof screw cap capable of being molded with ornamentation on the outside and having an integral lower marginal zone crimped radially inwardly after the cap has been threaded upon the container and arranged to be permanently deformed outwardly during removal of the cap while remaining integrally attached to the remainder of the cap, thus providing tangible evidence that the cap has been removed.

Still another object is to provide a container having a threaded neck portion with a radially outwardly extending shoulder below the threaded portion together with a plastic-composition pilfer-proof screw cap threaded thereon provided with an integral sealing zone along its lower margin seated on the shoulder, which zone is permanently deformable to clear the shoulder upon forcible removal of the cap.

Other and further objects will be apparent from the drawing and from the description which follows.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a view in cross section showing one embodiment of the cap of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in cross section showing the cap of FIG. 1 mounted on a container and sealed thereto;

FiG. 3 is a view in cross section showing the cap of FIG. 1 in place on the container after it has once been removed and the seal broken.

As shown in the drawings, the preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a screw cap having a depending skirt 12 integral with the cap, the skirt including a lower marginal zone 14 of reduced thickness along its periphery. In addition, skirt 12 is provided with intefll dfii Patented Jan. 23, 1962 gral threads 16 on its inner face. A conventional cushion liner '18 is provided in the crown of the cap and serves as a sealing gasket seating against the rim of the neck portion of the container on which the cap is threaded. Apart from liner 1%, cap 10 is preferably a unitary molded article made of a synthetic plastic composition which is thermoplastic in nature. The plastic composition must have an elongation at break of at least 10%, prefer-ably from 10% to 90%, and it must be permanently deformable under stress; i.e., it must possess low elastic recovery. The thickness of lower marginal zone 14 is preferably no greater than 75% of the thickness of the remainder of skirt 12 and preferably ranges from 40% to of the thickness of the remainder of the skirt. The transition in thickness from the upper portion of skirt 12 to the lower marginal zone 14 is preferably abrupt, the lower face of shoulder 20 preferably being disposed approximately at right angles to the wall of skirt 12. A variety of plastic materials have been found to possess the required physical properties as outlined above including high-impact polystyrene, rubber-modified polyacrylonitrile, rubber-modified polymethylmethacrylate, polyamide, cellulose acetate, cellulose butyrate, cellulose butyrate-acetate and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing, the cap ill is designed to be screwed upon threaded neck portion 22 of container 24, a radially outwardly projecting shoulder 26 being provided on neck portion 22 below the threads.

When the container has been filled with the desired material, cap 10 is screwed on threaded neck portion 22 to the position shown in FIG. 2, whereupon the lower marginal zone 14 is crimped or swaged inwardly to en gage closely a lower portion of shoulder 26, thus ensuring that liner 18 remains in sealing engagement with the rim of the neck portion. If desired, marginal zone 14 may be heated during this operation in order to facilitate and accelerate its permanent inward deformation to the position shown. Because of the relative thinness of this lower marginal zone, it is subject to deformation outwardly from its inwardly extending position by forcible turning of cap 10 in a counter-clockwise direction as seen from the top, so that when the cap has once been removed from the container its lower marginal zone 14- again assumes approximately the position shown in FIG. 1.

When the cap, having been once removed, is reapplied to the bottle, it assumes the position shown in FIG. 3 of the drawing. This outward deformation of lower marginal zone 14 is quite apparent to the eye of an observer and is even more apparent to anyone removing the cap from the container after it has been replaced, because of the lack of any frictional engagement between the now-straightened zone 14 and shoulder 26. It will be noted that marginal zone 14- remains permanently integral with the remainder of skirt l2 and does not present any ragged, sharp or torn edges which might tend to cut the fingers of anyone handling it. Since no scrap ring of material is left on the container after removal of the cap, no difficulty is encountered in mounting a dispenser or applicator upon the bottle.

Although specific embodiments of the invention have been described herein, it is not intended to limit the invention solely thereto, but to include all of the obvious variations and modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claim-ed is:

A container having a screw-threaded neck portion including an outwardly projecting camming shoulder positioned immediately below the screw-threaded portion, the peripheral edge of said shoulder having a diameter equal to the largest diameter of said screw-threaded portion, and a pilfer-proof screw cap having a main depending skirt portion including an integral lower marginal zone of reduced thickness along the periphery of said skirt of at least 25% less than the main portion, said zone extending radially inwardly from said skirt and closely engaging the lower portion of said shoulder when said cap is fully screwed on the neck portion and positioned to be engaged by said shoulder during removal of the cap, said skirt being made of a thermoplastic composition which has an elongation at break of at least 10% and which is permanently deformable under stress, said engagement of the marginal zone with said shoulder serving to deform said marginal zone outwardly from its inwardly extending position, said marginal zone retaining its deformed position and remaining integrally attached to the remainder of said skirt after removal from said container to provide tangible evidence of said removal when said cap is replaced.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,272,859 Russell July 16, 1918 2,546,566 Schweizer Mar. 27, 1951 2,854,003 Kirsch Sept. 30, 1958 

